Archive - Feb 2007

strict warning: Non-static method view::load() should not be called statically in /home/addison/public_html/sites/all/modules/views/views.module on line 1118.

strict warning: Declaration of views_handler_field::query() should be compatible with views_handler::query($group_by = false) in /home/addison/public_html/sites/all/modules/views/handlers/views_handler_field.inc on line 1148.

strict warning: Declaration of views_handler_sort::options_validate() should be compatible with views_handler::options_validate($form, &$form_state) in /home/addison/public_html/sites/all/modules/views/handlers/views_handler_sort.inc on line 165.

strict warning: Declaration of views_handler_sort::options_submit() should be compatible with views_handler::options_submit($form, &$form_state) in /home/addison/public_html/sites/all/modules/views/handlers/views_handler_sort.inc on line 165.

strict warning: Declaration of views_handler_sort::query() should be compatible with views_handler::query($group_by = false) in /home/addison/public_html/sites/all/modules/views/handlers/views_handler_sort.inc on line 165.

strict warning: Declaration of views_handler_filter::options_validate() should be compatible with views_handler::options_validate($form, &$form_state) in /home/addison/public_html/sites/all/modules/views/handlers/views_handler_filter.inc on line 599.

strict warning: Declaration of views_handler_filter::query() should be compatible with views_handler::query($group_by = false) in /home/addison/public_html/sites/all/modules/views/handlers/views_handler_filter.inc on line 599.

strict warning: Non-static method views_many_to_one_helper::option_definition() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/addison/public_html/sites/all/modules/views/handlers/views_handler_filter_many_to_one.inc on line 25.

strict warning: Non-static method views_many_to_one_helper::option_definition() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/addison/public_html/sites/all/modules/views/handlers/views_handler_filter_many_to_one.inc on line 25.

strict warning: Declaration of views_plugin_query::options_submit() should be compatible with views_plugin::options_submit($form, &$form_state) in /home/addison/public_html/sites/all/modules/views/plugins/views_plugin_query.inc on line 181.

strict warning: Declaration of views_plugin_row::options_validate() should be compatible with views_plugin::options_validate(&$form, &$form_state) in /home/addison/public_html/sites/all/modules/views/plugins/views_plugin_row.inc on line 136.

strict warning: Non-static method view::load() should not be called statically in /home/addison/public_html/sites/all/modules/views/views.module on line 1118.

strict warning: Declaration of image_attach_views_handler_field_attached_images::pre_render() should be compatible with views_handler_field::pre_render($values) in /home/addison/public_html/sites/all/modules/image/contrib/image_attach/image_attach_views_handler_field_attached_images.inc on line 112.

strict warning: Declaration of views_handler_area::query() should be compatible with views_handler::query($group_by = false) in /home/addison/public_html/sites/all/modules/views/handlers/views_handler_area.inc on line 81.

strict warning: Declaration of views_handler_area_text::options_submit() should be compatible with views_handler::options_submit($form, &$form_state) in /home/addison/public_html/sites/all/modules/views/handlers/views_handler_area_text.inc on line 121.

strict warning: Non-static method view::load() should not be called statically in /home/addison/public_html/sites/all/modules/views/views.module on line 1118.

strict warning: Non-static method views_many_to_one_helper::option_definition() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/addison/public_html/sites/all/modules/views/handlers/views_handler_filter_many_to_one.inc on line 25.

strict warning: Non-static method views_many_to_one_helper::option_definition() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context in /home/addison/public_html/sites/all/modules/views/handlers/views_handler_filter_many_to_one.inc on line 25.

strict warning: Declaration of views_plugin_style_default::options() should be compatible with views_object::options() in /home/addison/public_html/sites/all/modules/views/plugins/views_plugin_style_default.inc on line 24.

February 15th

MIDDLEBURY — Migrant workers in Addison County remain scared to leave the farms on which they work lest they be stopped and deported for a minor infraction in what has become the strictest state in the Northeast for rounding up illegal aliens, local advocates said on Tuesday.

A panel of local educators, farmers, Mexican government officials and a former U.S. Border Patrol agent shared these and other views on the issue of migrant farm workers at a special forum hosted on Tuesday by the Middlebury Congregational Church.

The standing-room-only crowd of more than 100 featured farmers, human services providers, lawyers and students, but was largely devoid of the people who were the focus of the gathering — migrant workers, who clearly wanted to avoid scrutiny in order to keep their jobs.

VERGENNES — Residents in the Addison Northwest Supervisory Union towns of Addison, Ferrisburgh and Panton are looking at increases of only one or two cents on their school tax rates if they approve school budgets as proposed, according to ANwSU estimates.

Meanwhile, Waltham residents may see a five-cent drop in their school taxes, but all bets are off in Vergennes: The city is just completing a reappraisal of all of its properties, making it virtually impossible to guess where its school tax rate will end up.

In all, ANwSU officials are happy to pass on some good news, for which they credit accurate property assessments as well as spending increases they believe are responsible.

MIDDLEBURY — Some local entrepreneurs, college officials and economic development leaders are talking about the possibility of establishing a new plant that would produce biomass pellets and transform them into steam energy to generate heat and electricity for several businesses in Middlebury’s industrial park.

Plans are still very conceptual at this point, as prospective players in the project are still crunching numbers to see if a biomass pellet/cogeneration facility would be economically and logistically viable for Middlebury. But those involved in the planning are very upbeat.

“This is very promising,” said Morgan Wolaver, owner of Otter Creek Brewing, one of the potential participants. “It’s not completely confirmed, but I think there is a more than 50-percent certainty it could happen.”

February 12th

MIDDLEBURY — The developer of The Center shopping plaza in Middlebury wants to build a Starbucks Coffee shop that would be erected at the site of the former Route 7 Car Wash, next to McDonald’s Restaurant.

Plans on file with the Middlebury Planning Commission show a 1,749-square-foot Starbucks shop that would feature 25 parking spaces and drive-through service.

Representatives of Myron M. Hunt Inc. and Mill Bridge Construction — the prospective contractor for the project — are scheduled to discuss their plans with the Middlebury Planning Commission on Monday, Feb. 12.

“We are very excited about doing this,” said Chris Hunt, a partner in Myron Hunt Inc. “We see it as a big improvement over the car wash property as it exists today, and as a great amenity for the town.”

BRISTOL — Eight candidates will be on the Town Meeting Day ballot for seats on the Bristol Board of Selectmen. Incumbent John “Peeker” Heffernan is unopposed in his effort to be re-elected to a two-year term, but seven candidates are vying for the two other open seats.

Ted Lylis, Nate Bouvier and Carol Wells are all running for the three-year seat that will vacated by Selectman Dave Sharpe, who announced last month that he would not seek re-election. Sharon Compagna is one of four candidates to fill the remaining year in the seat held for seven years by her husband, Armand Compagna, who died Jan. 12. Peter Diminico, Ken Johnson, and Pam Jennings are also running for the one-year seat.

February 7th

ADDISON COUNTY — The latest setbacks for Specialty Filaments and Standard Register are emblematic of what has been a multi-year slide in the manufacturing industry both locally and statewide, prompting economic development officials to refine the manner in which they recruit new businesses.

Addison County last month receive two doses of bad news from the manufacturing industry when Specialty Filaments and Standard Register announced they would be closing, resulting in the elimination of a combined total of 287 jobs.

Specialty Filaments received a reprieve when the Illinois-based Thomas Monahan Co. bought the business out of bankruptcy and reopened it on Monday with roughly 60 percent of its previous 175-member workforce. But Standard Register will lay off the last of its 112 Middlebury employees next month, while putting its 115,000-square-foot building on Route 7 South up for sale.

BRISTOL — The 2007 session may be only a month old, but the familiar topics of school funding, the Iraq War and better maintenance of the state’s roads and bridges are topics already surfacing to the top of the Vermont Legislature’s agenda.

Local lawmakers discussed those and other issues at the season’s first legislative breakfast, held at American Legion Post 19 in Bristol on Monday. Area legislators — some of them recently appointed to committee leadership posts — gave the approximately 30 breakfast attendees an early glimpse at what has been going on under the Golden Dome.

They explained education-funding reform has already been making some headlines. Gov. James Douglas, along with Vermont House and Senate leaders, presented a unified front late last week in endorsing a property tax reform strategy that would emphasize cuts and new economies of scale, rather than tax increases.

MIDDLEBURY — Every time Marichal Gentry calls Comcast to ask why Black Entertainment Television (BET) isn’t included in his standard cable package — he’s been doing this regularly since 1999 when Adelphia was the local provider — the representative offers the same curt explanation: Sorry sir, the market just doesn’t demand it.

This isn’t news to Gentry. The associate dean of Middlebury College, who grew up in North Carolina, has lived in Middlebury for eight years as part of one of Addison County’s smallest minority groups: African Americans. He is used to having unique needs.

Here in Vermont, he scours Shaw’s Supermarket for soul food to satiate his southern taste buds. He treks up to Horizons Salon in Essex Junction to get his hair cut by an African American woman who has experience working with black hair. And he leaves the state frequently, traveling to North Carolina and Tennessee where he can sing with his choir, visit his family and stock up on the recorded gospel music that’s difficult to find up north.